MMA notes: White can see Rousey in the UFC one day

UFC president Dana White used to dismiss the possibility of women fighting in the UFC because he believed the pool of talented women fighters wasn't deep enough to form a division. Strikeforce women's bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey appears to be changing White's mind.

"I think she's (expletive) awesome. I think she's mean. I think she's nasty. She's a real fighter and I like watching her fight. I think there can be some fun fights with Ronda ... and some of the other women too. But you'd have to do some one-offs."

White said he still doesn't believe there is enough top-notch women's talent in MMA to form a division in the UFC, but he is warming up to the idea of adding single superfights to UFC events.

NOTES

White talked about the status of "The Ultimate Fighter" franchise on Fuel TV's "UFC Tonight" on Tuesday night. "The Ultimate Fighter," which airs Fridays at 10 p.m. on FX, has seen its ratings decline in its second season on FX.

"There are a lot of the things we're working on," White said. "Obviously we're working on 'The Ultimate Fighter.' We gave it a shot doing TUF Live. What we found out is people actually do like the reality and want to see more of what went on in the house that week, which is almost impossible to do leading up into a live fight. We're bringing back The Ultimate Fighter. TUF Live isn't dead. I'd like to give it another shot.

"(TUF 16) is not a make or break year. There are some things that we all did wrong. And we need to fix them. It's all part of running a business. The thing about us is we're not afraid of taking risks. If we were, we wouldn't be sitting here right now. This whole business has been a risk since day one." ...

Pickett lived upÂ to his nickname when he leveled Yves Jabouin with a first-round uppercut to earn knockout of the night honors. Wiman thwarted Paul Sass' submission attempts before tapping him out with a hard-fought first-round armbar for submission of the night. Struve had to absorb some of Miocic's best shots before coming on strong to get the second-round TKO in the main event. Both fighters received fight of the night bonuses. ...

UFC on Fuel TV 5 at Capital FM Arena drew a crowd of 7,241 for a live gate of $970,000, UFC officials reported. ...

Forrest Griffin didn't appear to be himself the not of his embarrassing loss to Anderson Silva at UFC 101 when he was knocked out by a jab. Griffin, a former UFC light-heavyweight champion, revealed he took anti-anxiety medication Xanax the night before the fight on MMA Fighting's "The MMA Hour" on Monday.

"I failed my drug test I think for Xanax," Griffin said. "I had a doctor's prescription. I was just ... I didn't do it before the fight. I did it the night before. I was nervous and I couldn't sleep."

Griffin's test failure was not made public by the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission after the 2009 event. Griffin said the Silva fight was the low point in his career, but he added it helped put things in perspective.

"Look what happened when I fought Anderson Silva," he said. "It can't possibly get worse than that. I've already seen the bottom and it wasn't that bad. I made it through. I survived. It's fighting. It's not the end of the world." ...

Matt Mitrione drew White's ire when he turned down an opportunity to fight Strikeforce heavyweight grand prix champion Daniel Cormier on Nov. 3 on Showtime. Former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir was supposed to fight Cormier, but Mir had to pull out of the fight because of an injury. Strikeforce officials are still working on a replacement fighter.

"It (expletive) makes me sick," White told reporters following UFC on Fuel TV 5. "Listen, you don't want big opportunities, I hear you. I get it, then. I get it you donâ€™t want big opportunities. All I can say is, I guess he doesn't want big opportunities. I get it. Duly noted."

Mitrione, who hasn't fought since losing a decision to Cheick Kongo at UFC 137 on Oct. 29, 2011, said the fact that the Cormier fight would have been a Strikeforce did not effect his decision.

"First, I want to thank Dana White and Joe Silva for even offering that fight," Mitrione told Bloody Elbow. "It was an honor to get that call, and I would love to fight Daniel Cormier, but I'm just not ready right now. He has Olympic level wrestling, and although I have spent a great deal of time working on my wresting, I don't feel it would be my best fight back after such a long layoff. UFC worked hard to get me a fight this year, but my old opponent had visa issues and it caused additional time out of the cage. Wrestling is, by far, my weakest skill. I'm working hard on my wrestling, but it would be a huge weakness against me in a short notice fight against Cormier." ...

How to watch: UFC on FX 5 prelims on Facebook, 1 p.m.; UFC on FX 5 prelims on Fuel TV, 2 p.m.; and UFC on FX 5 on FX, 8 p.m. (delayed on West Coast).

Outlook: Browne (13-0-1) puts his unbeaten record on the line against Silva (16-4), a former EliteXC heavyweight champion, in the main event of UFC on FX 5.

Prediction: Browne is the kind of heavyweight that has that special blend of athleticism and power as he showed with his Superman-punch KO of Stefan Struve at UFC 130. Silva, a 6-4, 265-pounder, can overwhelm opponentsÂ with his size and power, but Browne has the agility and quickness to create problems for the Brazilian. Browne will get the victory in this one.

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